By Lauren Mayer, on Tue Nov 13, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET
As in any election, there were some predicted results (Obama re-elected, Nate Silver fan clubs popping up), some lovely surprises (20 women in the senate, legalized pot and gay marriage), and some disappointed losers (including every senatorial candidate who mentioned rape . . . who’d’ve thunk?) I know some people feel the saddest for Florida, which ended up not even mattering this year. But my sympathy vote goes to Karl Rove. Whatever you think of him, he has to be a fundraising genius to have gotten $300 million from his donors, but of all the candidates he supported, not a single one was elected. I mean, I disagreed with him on almost every issue, but I never wished this much pain on the man. Not only did Donald Trump publicly shame him via tweet (I don’t know what part of that was more humiliating!), but now he’s even a joke on The Simpsons. What’s Rove supposed to do now? I seriously doubt he has much of a future as a political fundraiser, and after his election night meltdown on Fox News, his punditry career may be shot.
So while Rove sorts out his options, he can use this song as his soundtrack . . . (And after this last political song, I will be turning my musical attention to more general current events, the upcoming holidays, and the latest pop culture silliness that gives me an intellectual excuse to buy People Magazine.)
Fall always marks a great time of the year from the changing of the leaves, apple cider, pumpkin patches, (well, pumpkin everything) and for Hindus around the world the auspicious occasion of Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Diwali is the celebration of good over evil as people in the ancient Indian city of Ayodhya celebrated by lighting candles to welcome the victory of King Rama over the evil demon Raavan. On a deeper level, this is a celebration of our own inner light, expelling the evil of ignorance within ourselves and embracing a higher knowledge that we can achieve.
For Gujaratis (the state of India where my family hails from), Diwali also marks the end of the calendar with a New Year beginning the day after the celebration. Think of it like a New Year’s Eve, if you will and presents another opportunity to expel the old and bring in the new. What a fitting time to have the results of Election 2012! (Was it really just a week ago? It feels like it was much longer.)
First, my congratulations to President Obama! I find it so interesting that as you hear the pundits talk about the election, they frequently tell us the “minority vote” helped secure his re-election campaign. It reminds me of that unforgettable TIME Magazine Cover of the “Changing Face of America”, and if one thing is for sure, this election reflected that predicted change from 1993. Not only did minorities help decide this election, they were able to make an impact on the composition of our elected officials. We re-elected our first African-American President to a 2nd term. We elected the first openly gay politician, Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin to the U.S. Senate. We elected the first Buddhist-American, Mazie K. Hirono from Hawaii to a seat in Congress. Finally, we elected the first Hindu-American, Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii to a seat in Congress. For a minority in America in terms of religion and ethnicity, this victory was the most inspiring for me.
Read the rest of… Mona Tailor: Celebrating Diwali and Election 2012
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Nov 13, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
IPhone and paranoia.
For the past week my iPhone has regularly refused to send forward emails I have attempted.
Instead, I receive a message that the message is being stored because it is being rejected by the server.
At first I figured it was Apple just buying time to transmit messages. I realize they are busy and just had an avalanche of new messages after releasing the iPhone 5.
But by the third day of blocking my emails, I became suspicious that Apple had a detection device that refused to send emails not up to snuff.
I retread my dozens of “stuck” emails and although they weren’t my best work, they weren’t so poorly written that they should have been prohibited by Apple.
By the 5th day of blocked emails I began to wonder if all the people I email were complaining to Apple about my incessant emails and requested a a week moratorium.
And today, Day 7, as my first few emails are blocked, I am beginning to wonder if a lot longer than a week has been requested
The RP sent the following message to the 600,000 person army of Democrats, Republicans and Independents who comprise the No Labels movement. Please read, and if you agree, sign on to this important cause:
The election is over, and our leaders are talking about working across the aisle — but will they follow through?
The stakes have rarely been higher. Neither side has the numbers to push through an agenda without compromise, and the price of failure would be severe. Once again, they have no choice but to work together.
Speaker John Boehner said, “If there was one mandate that came out of the election, it was find a way to work together to address our problems.” President Barack Obama agreed, inviting congressional leaders tothe White House to work on a solution to the fiscal cliff.
More than a half-million Democrats, Republicans and independents have coalesced behind this cause. Washington can and will work, but only if the people demand it. That’s what we’re doing.
1) Return to your fiscal conservative roots. Adhere to your rhetoric about not crippling the next generation with debt by supporting policies that would actually balance budgets, as opposed to Ryan-esque chimera and other supply-side delusions.
You may recall how the economy fared in the 1990s after every Republican legislator voted against Clinton’s ’93 tax hike and asserted it would kill the economy. Did a Republican Congress that limited spending help satisfy bond traders, keeping interest rates low and powering growth? Sure. But the public associates that growth with Clinton. Your doomsday rhetoric about Clintonomics cost you credibility, and a decade of feeble growth following the Bush tax cuts didn’t restore it.
2) As true budget hawks, take the lead in two areas where the nation could save billions: military spending and prison reform. Want to win the votes of young people and minorities? Bingo. Young people have overwhelmingly opposed recent overseas conflicts, and in a time of fiscal austerity when college grads are moving back in with their parents, the fact that that we spend more than the next 10 highest spending nations combined should be sobering.
Prison reform could be two-fold. First, train offenders in prison in entrepreneurship. Pilot programs in this area have reduced recidivism by as much as 80% – and 60% recidivism rates drive corrections spending. Second, focus on sentencing reform so that we don’t continue locking up non-violent offenders for decades as part of misguided “three-strikes” and “truth-in-sentencing” laws. Since minorities are disproportionately affected by the prison-industrial complex, they would appreciate a focus on sentencing reform.
3) Stop opposing the DREAM Act. The writing is on the wall. These approximately 15 million folks aren’t going anywhere; they’re not self-deporting and government lacks the will and the money to deport them, other than criminals who are apprehended. These 15 million mostly consider themselves Americans. Almost all work hard and play by the rules. Quit appeasing your eroding base of old white people and get with the program.
4) Stop talking about gay people. As has been obvious from the generational divide in polling on the issue for the past decade that ship is sailing away from you, fast.
Read the rest of… Jeff Smith: 7 Things Republicans Must Do
By Nancy Slotnick, on Tue Nov 13, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
The aftermath of the Hurricane. The aftermath of the election.
What’s the spirit of New York right now? I went on a fact-finding mission in my Timberlands and my construction jumpsuit yesterday. I am an anthropologist of sorts. Anthropologist-matchmaker, if that makes any sense. (usually it doesn’t.) I was hopeful about the state of affairs on human connection. After all, I have gotten buckets of positive energy sent my way on the loss of our house, and meanwhile there are Hurricane victims who are much worse off. So I wake up at the crack of dawn and I’m thinking, like that old Dunkin’ Donuts commercial—“Time to make the dates happen.”
But out in the coffeehouses of the city, not so much. The isolation is deafening. We can’t even blame the Hurricane for the shell-shocked nature of New Yorkers these days. Prior to hurricane season this year I was with my 7-year old son in Starbucks, and we were searching for a seat. He said, “I want to sit over there in the Computer Lab.” He was referring to the communal table. Something has gone wrong with our ability to socialize.
There is so much opportunity for human connection this week. New Yorkers have been outpouring charitable donations, volunteer labor, blankets and peanut butter& banana sandwiches. There is a palpable energy of friendliness, community and good will. But my findings revealed that noble intentions haven’t translated into an easier time for singles to meet. They should, though.
In the blackout of 1965 in NYC, my parents lived at 4thAvenue and 10th Street. My Dad was at NYU Law School and was walking home with a fellow student when the lights went out. He invited the guy over, knowing that my Mom would be there with dinner, and it would be wrong for his friend to have to be alone in the dark. My Mom had been at the gynecologist’s office in the neighborhood and had befriended a random woman in the waiting room who lived uptown and was stuck without safe passage. Needless to say, my Mom (not yet a Jewish mother but obviously in-training) invited the woman over for dinner as well. The two guests met that night and the rest was history. They fell in love and got married.
I’ve always loved that story. I was barely a gleam in the doctor’s speculum but that night must have been the start of my matchmaking proclivities. The most pertinent part of the story is that my Mom (Jewish mom in-training or otherwise) would not have invited a random stranger to dinner under normal circumstances. Don’t get me wrong, she is extremely hospitable. But she follows social norms, and it is just not a very socially acceptable thing to do.
I believe when you breach social norms and make yourself vulnerable, great things can happen. You can effect change. This is the time. That Billy Joel song is playing in my head. He says,“We lived through a lifetime and the aftermath.” What is the aftermath of a lifetime? I certainly don’t know, but one thing is for sure—the aftermath of a lifetime is even further beyond our control than the aftermath of a hurricane or an election. “This is the time, but time is gonna change.” You can bet that Obama knows this. You can know it too.
Imagine you only have 4 years- to accomplish your next goal. Whether that is finding the One, having a baby, starting a business, how might you get started?
“Is that a weathervane in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” Okay, maybe that’s not the best pick-up line in the world. But any pick-up line is better than no pick-up line. And judging from my anthropological findings around NYC this week, a cheesy pick-up line might be just the ice-breaker we need. Or should I say glacier-breaker? “How’d you do in Sandy” or “How’d you weather the storm?” might be a little more socially acceptable. There may be something to be said for some social norms.
Trying times can go either way, when it comes to human connection. We feel vulnerable, so we want to go back into the safe shell of workaholism and isolation. Or alternatively, we feel vulnerable so we reach out for the hope that love and connection can provide comfort. Two roads diverged in a taxi line. “Are you going to the Upper West Side too? I hear they have power and Internet there.” It’s so easy to reach out, yet so hard.
So when you’re out and about this week, think about the next 4 years, and stretch outside of your comfort zone to talk to a stranger. Get yourself one step closer to your goals. This is the time. Take New York City by storm. 😉
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Nov 12, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Pigskin
The Falcons were handed their first loss of the season Sunday in New Orleans, dropping them to 8-1. [ESPN]
All the NFL statisticians groaned on Sunday when the 49ers-Rams game ended in the infamous tie, at 24-24. [SI]
As the Eagles’ season continues to spiral towards irrelevancy Michael Vick was knocked out of Sunday’s game against the Cowboys with a concussion. While Nick Foles will get the start behind the injury, it doesn’t appear that he is ready to lead this team to anything special. [ESPN]
Apparently Mike Holmgren is ready to get back on the sidelines. This report states he is interested in the Dallas Cowboys Head Coach position. [NFL.com]
Parity in the NFL in 2012. How to read the chart: Going clockwise, the scoreline between the two teams is one beating the other, and so on. [chart]
Could the Browns change up one of the league’s more iconic uniforms? Their players hope so. [PFT]
